Stanley Cup: Patrice Bergeron is a warrior

Tuesday

Jun 25, 2013 at 6:00 AMJun 25, 2013 at 7:11 PM

Not since Curt Schilling and his bloody sock had the championship hopes of Boston fans been focused on one player. A fair comparison? Probably not. Would Patrice Bergeron play in Monday's do-or-die Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals?

By Dave Nordman TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Not since Curt Schilling and his bloody sock had the championship hopes of Boston fans been focused on one player.

A fair comparison? Probably not.

Would Patrice Bergeron play in Monday's do-or-die Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals?

Would the Bruins force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Wednesday night in Chicago?

The answer to the second question — we know now — is “no” after the Blackhawks scored two late goals to shock Boston, 3-2.

Milan Lucic gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead midway through the third period, but goals by Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland with 1:16 and 0:59 left won it for the Blackhawks.

“There's not many words that can be said right now,” Bergeron said in a somber Boston locker room after the game. “It's definitely tough to lose, especially at this time, after everything we've been through. There's not many words that can be said right now. It's tough.”

Tough can certainly describe Bergeron, who was brought to the hospital in an ambulance during the second period of Game 5. At the time, the Bruins would only describe it as a “body” injury, but Bergeron said after Monday's game he broke a rib and was also checked for a possible spleen injury.

Then, some time in Game 6, Bergeron said he separated his shoulder.

“I guess a lot of help from the medical staff,” he said.

But Bergeron never thought of not playing.

“It's Stanley Cup Final, everyone's banged up, everyone wants to help the team and obviously I couldn't do that in Game 5,” Bergeron said. “It was mostly because they were worried about my spleen being hurt, so that's why we had to go to the hospital. But everything was fine so it was just the ribs, and the muscles, and the soft tissue. So obviously I would've liked to stay in it but I was going through a lot of pain.”

Officially, the status of Boston's alternate captain and one of the NHL's best two-way forwards wasn't known until he took his first shift with the second line.

And the TD Garden crowd — still happy at the time — greeted him with a loud ovation, even before he finished a hard check on Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to the right of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford.

“He's been the glue for this hockey team for a lot of years,” said forward Chris Kelly, whose goal gave Boston a 1-0 lead 7:19 into the game.

Before the game, Bergeron stretched and did his usual laps before stopping briefly to chat with team doctor Peter Asnis. The conversation was brief, but Bergeron's ice time in the first period was not.

He was on the ice for 5 minutes and 51 seconds, which was good news for the Bruins — a confidence boost, for sure. He finished with 17:45, but didn't have shot on net and lost 6 of 11 faceoffs.

Swedish forward Carl Soderberg was between Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr during Monday's pregame skate. Soderberg replaced Bergeron as the center on Boston's second line on Saturday.

But when Monday's game began, Soderberg was back on the fourth line with Rich Peverley and Shawn Thornton. And Jay Pandolfo and Jordan Caron, who both skated in the morning, were scratches.

“To have him in our lineup tonight was a bonus,” coach Claude Julien said. “And again, there was nothing that was going to stop this guy from getting in our lineup. That's why I can't speak enough about how proud I am of our players, because of things like that. He wasn't going to be denied that opportunity no matter what.”

Bergeron's brothers in black described him as the ultimate teammate.

"Obviously, we're a close team here, and we knew he was going to play," David Krejci said. "No matter if he plays five or 20 minutes, just to have him on the bench, it gave us a lot of energy. We love each other here. We want to play for each other, and to have him on the ice and on the bench was great. I was really happy that he was able to play. It wasn't easy. He's a warrior, and he loves the team."

"I think even when he was getting dressed in the locker room before the game, you could feel the boys' spirits lifted," Tyler Seguin said. "The year we won he was doing the same thing; fighting through everything. Obviously guys have bumps and bruises, but he's a guy that you obviously say is the heart and soul of our team. He wears that 'B' with a lot of pride."

Bergeron, who finished the 2013 playoffs with 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists), played only 49 seconds in the second period of Game 5.

After Saturday's loss, Bergeron met his teammates in the lobby of their Chicago hotel and flew back here with them the next morning. Now, he'll soon return to his hometown of Quebec City to recover and reflect.

He started that process Monday night. And it began with the Blackhawks' second goal.

“We can go in to overtime, but definitely a tough goal late in the game like that,” Bergeron said. “You don't want that to happen, especially with a minute left and time to, I guess, regroup and go back in to overtime and get it. But that second goal definitely hurt us a bit and maybe took away our focus at the wrong time. But right now there's not really many excuses to use.”

As the Blackhawks were presented the Stanley Cup, Bergeron stood at center ice with his head between his knees. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara skated over to console him. The two shared a few words.

“It's tough to, like I said, put words to describe how we're feeling right now,” Bergeron said. “You work so hard just to get to this point and give yourself a chance to get the Cup. And you feel like you're right there, and you have a chance to force Game 7, and definitely it hurts. It doesn't work your way. Have to give credit to Chicago. They played a great series. But at the same time, it's the last thing you want to say. It hurts to see them hoisting the cup.”